Friday, January 15, 1999 Published at 19:12 GMTUK PoliticsPinochet judge under pressureGeneral Pinochet's hearing may have suffered from biasLaw Lords have attacked their colleague Lord Hoffmann who failed to declare links with a human rights group before ruling in a key hearing on General Augusto Pinochet.

In their written judgement, they give their detailed reasoning for overturning a ruling by a previous panel of Law Lords which had denied the former Chilean dictator freedom from prosecution.

The Law Lords said the links between Lord Hoffmann - who sat on the original panel that ruled to allow General Pinochet's extradition in November - and the human rights group Amnesty International were too close to allow the verdict to stand.

One of the lords who ruled in the appeal case, Lord Hope, said: "In view of his links with Amnesty International as the chairman and a director of Amnesty International Charity Limited he could not be seen to be impartial.

"There has been no suggestion that he was actually biased. He had no financial or pecuniary interest in the outcome.

"But his relationship with Amnesty International was such that he was, in effect, acting as a judge in his own cause."

Lord Hoffmann has links with Amnesty International

The Law Lords took an unprecedented decision to reject a ruling made by Lord Hoffmann and four colleagues in November that extradition proceedings against the general could begin.

Another appeal judge, Lord Hutton, said: "I consider that the links ... between Lord Hoffman and Amnesty International, which had campaigned strongly against General Pinochet and which intervened in the earlier hearing to support the case that he should be extradited to face trial for his alleged crimes, were so strong that public confidence in the integrity of the administration of justice would be shaken if his decision were allowed to stand."